GUILTY: Chauvin Guilty In Murder of George Floyd On All Counts | COVID-19: Stop Travelling | USDA Extends Universal Free Lunch | Morrissey Remains A Big Whinging Baby |

Taken from San Diego Zoo Skyfari 4.19.21

I know I'm not alone in saying that I cried a lot today. That jury today allowed the United States and the world to believe our own eyes. Listening to Van Jones and Don Lemon on CNN, and an on-the-street interview with the Floyd family's lawyer, and then all of George Floyd's brothers and cousins and aunts. It was all so beautiful and still so tragic and can't help but bring hope and relief and release for Americans, and especially Black Americans, today. There is so much more progress to be made, for sure. 

"If you can make Federal law to protect birds...you can make Federal law to protect black people." - Philonise Floyd

Needless to say, today was a good day. Besides watching trial coverage, we watched the hilarious Morrissey Simpsons episode, some media briefings, spent some time in the yard, got Indian takeout from Yak and Yeti and I think I'm going to pop some popcorn and watch The Sound of Metal tonight. I hope everyone had a great day. Stay safe out there. 

• Rest In Power, George Floyd:
• Derek Chauvin guilty verdict: Biden says ‘systemic racism is a stain on our nation’s soul’ - The Guardian (4.20.21)
• Derek Chauvin guilty in death of George Floyd - CNN (4.20.21)
• Former Police Officer Chauvin Guilty Of Murder, Manslaughter In Floyd Case - AP/kpbs (4.20.21)
• Governor Newsom Statement on Chauvin Trial Verdict 
• Chair Nathan Fletcher Reacts To Derek Chauvin Trial Verdict
• This ruling is accountability, not justice. Justice would be if George Floyd were still alive -- and if Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities did not live under systemic racism, police brutality, and mass incarceration that destroys millions of lives. - Common Cause
• We’ve all seen the sickening video of Derek Chauvin with his knee on George Floyd’s neck. Today’s verdict is an acknowledgment that police officers cannot get away with murder, but we still have a long way to go to achieve the justice demanded by so many protesters in the last year - Margaret Huang, SPLC
• Today, there was accountability for George Floyd’s murder. But the work for justice continues. Democratic AGs stand in solidarity with people across the country who are fighting to bring equity and fairness to the justice system.
  Today, we recommit to working to end the injustice of police killings without consequence – disproportionately affecting Black, Brown and other communities and families of color.
  We applaud our colleague AG Keith Ellison and his team for their leadership and commitment to justice for George Floyd and his family.
  To those marching in the streets for continued justice and progress, know that we stand with you in the fight for reforms, and are working to make sure systemic change happens at the state and federal level. - Democratic Attorneys General Association 
• Today’s verdict is not about justice. Justice would be George Floyd being here to testify to his experience. Justice, as non-Black people know it, is not possible for Black people in America.
  This verdict is a response to the question of whether Black Lives Matter in America. The United States, and the white supremacist regime that the police in this country represent, was on trial.
  Thankfully today, a jury affirmed that George Floyd’s life matters. Still, we must continue to guard our joy, pray for those most impacted, and remain focused on the work required to ensure that all of our Black Lives Matter. What we need is structural change.
  It is critical that as we celebrate a murderer being held accountable for taking the life of an innocent Black man that we do not lose sight of the work that was required to get to this moment. It says a lot about this country that the possibility of breathing as a Black man without fear of having our lives stolen is only possible when we pursue the necessary reforms to policy and practices that honor all Black lives.
  We all witnessed Derek Chauvin murder George Floyd. Gaslighting is having to sit through a trial where George Floyd was blamed for his death  in spite of this fact. Let the legacy of this trial provide us with opportunities to deal with the root causes that led to this moment - that Derek Chauvin thought it was appropriate to engage in lethal conduct - because he had no fear of his actions. We must do better to hold police accountable and that includes ending qualified immunity for police officers.
  Government leaders are responding to this moment by spending millions of dollars on more police, military style weapons, barricades and fencing as if preparing to go to war with the community rather than prioritizing investments in healing, restorative justice, and repair. This moment should be one where we recommit to universal principles of equality and expecting fair treatment. Each of us should want what has happened to George Floyd and those who knew and loved him, and so many other Black lives that have been stolen by state sanctioned actors, to never happen to anyone. Let us work to ensure we don’t revisit this moment again.
  This verdict does not change what many of us know to be true: a racist, anti-Black, unjust system can never deliver justice for our people. And it never kept us safe as it was not designed to. George Floyd should be here. We mourn as his family mourns, and support their efforts to find solace and accountability with this verdict. Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor and so many other members of our beautifully diverse community deserve to be here too. While we cannot bring them back we can commit to new and meaningful ways to keep our Black bodies and our communities safe. - National Black Justice Coalition


• COVID-19:
• Weekly Epidemiological Update - WHO
  Globally, new COVID-19 cases rose for the eighth consecutive week, with over 5.2 million new cases reported in the last week. The number of new deaths increased for the fifth consecutive week, increasing by 8% compared to last week, with over 83 000 new deaths reported. While all regions except the European Region reported an increase in incident cases in the last week, the largest increase continues to be reported by the South-East Asia Region, largely driven by India, followed by the Western Pacific Region.
• Politics:
• State Department to list 80% of countries as 'Do Not Travel' as it updates advisory system to align with CDC - CNN (4.19.21)
• USDA Issues Pandemic Flexibilities for Schools and Day Care Facilities through June 2022 to Support Safe Reopening and Healthy, Nutritious Meals. Nutrition standards return with options and resources to support safety and social distancing - USDA (4.20.21)
• Canada-U.S. land border restrictions, hotel quarantine extended - Reuters (4.20.21)
• White House: 
• Remarks by President Biden on the Verdict in the Derek Chauvin Trial for the Death of George Floyd
• Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jen Psaki, April 20, 2021
• Secretary Blinken’s Meeting with Human Rights Defenders
• Other Reading:
• The Forever Maskers - The New Yorker Intelligencer (4.19.21)
• What Police Impunity Looks Like: “There Was No Discipline as No Wrongdoing Was Found”. To understand why police are so rarely held accountable for killings, you should know about Kawaski Trawick, and what didn’t happen to the officer who shot him. - ProPublica (4.20.21)
• Benedict Cumberbatch Plays Morrissey-Inspired Character on The Simpsons, Angers Morrissey. Cumberbatch voices Quilloughby, a depressed British crooner from the 1980s who becomes Lisa Simpson’s imaginary friend - Pitchfork (4.20.21)
• Global COVID-19 Stats (JHU 4.20.21 8:20pm):
• 142,642,783 Known Cases
• 3,041,753 Known Deaths
• US COVID-19 Stats 
• CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Data Tracker
• JHU
• 31,792,110 Cases
• 568,461 Deaths
• CDC Data Tracker:
• +43,863 New Cases/31,541,447 Known Cases 
• +456 New Deaths/564,813 Known Deaths
• 272,030,795 Doses Delivered/213,388,238 Doses Administered
• Moderna 114,486,700 delivered/93,672,874 administered/35,783,946 Fully Vaccinated
• Pfizer 139,902,945 delivered/111,585,824 administered/42,492,797 Fully Vaccinated
• Janssen 17,641,150 delivered/7,961,251 administered/7,906,189 Fully Vaccinated
• California COVID-19 Stats:
• State of California Safe Schools For All Hub
• Vaccination progress dashboard
• Aggregate California ICU Bed Availability: 32.8%
• R-effective: 0.78
• 32,778,990 Doses Delivered/26,127,571 Doses Administered
• 1,606 New Cases/3,620,301 Total Cases (5.0 new cases/100k)
• 32 New Deaths/59,804 Total Deaths (0.10 new deaths/100k)
• 1.3% 7-day test positivity rate
• 2,148 COVID-19 Hospitalizations (+49 patients, +2.3% from prior day)
• 480 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized in CA (+34 patients, +7.1% from prior day)
• 2,535 ICU beds available (+108 from prior day)
• San Diego County 
• Free Testing Sites and Schedule in San Diego
• VaccinationSuperstationSD
• Vaccination Dashboard
• San Diego County Of Education School Reopening Dashboard
• State Data:
• Southern California ICU Bed Availability: 35.5%
• R-effective: 0.85
• 152 New Cases/175,114 Total Cases
• 0 Deaths/3,674 Total Deaths
• 6.4 cases/100k population (Assessed on 4/20. Unadjusted Case Rate)
• 2.4% Test Positivity (Assessed on 4/20)
• 3.0% Health Equity Positivity (Assessed on 4/20)
• 188 COVID-19 hospitalized patients (+3 patients, +1.6% from prior day)
• 60 COVID-19 ICU hospitalized patients (+7 patients, 13.2% from prior day)
• 312 ICU beds available (+42 from prior day)
• County Data:
• San Diego County COVID-19 Update – 4-20-2021 - County News Center 
• COVID-19 Watch 
• 3,595 Positive Cases 4/4-4/17
• 1,928 Interviewed
• Bars and Restaurants: 317 cases
• Retail Locations: 225
• Workplaces: 579
• Household Exposures: 517 
• Travel-Related: 375 
• 256 New Cases/275,368 Total Cases 
• 0 New Daily Deaths/3,674 Total Deaths
• Doses Received/Doses Administered
• 3% Daily Test Positivity/% (7-day avg after 7-day lag)/1.8% Test Positivity (14-day average)
• 6.1 cases/100k population (Assessed on 4/20. Adjusted case rate per 100,000 excluding prisons.) 
• % Case Investigation 
• % Day Over Day COVID-19 Hospitalizations (+patients. % over 30 days)
• % ICU Capacity (+patients. %  over 30 days)
• Staffed ICU Beds Available
• 0 New/21 Community Outbreaks (7-day)
• Universities:
• SDSU COVID-19, UCSD COVID-19, USD COVID-19, CSU San Marcos, PLNU